Upholstery-spring and means for supporting same



No; 749,165. PATENTED JAN. 12, 1904.

e. ErBIGELOW.

UPHOLSTERY SPRING AND MEANS FOR SUPPORTING SAME.

APPLICATION FILED APRA, 19021 N0 MODEL.

M5686 Geo.E.Bige[0w.

i/Ztto ens/ya UNITED STATES Patented. January 12, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

. MORGAN SPRING COMPANY, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, A

CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

UPHOLSTERY-SPRING AND MEANS FOR SUPPORTING SAME.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 749,155, dated January 12, 1904.

Application filed April 4, 1902. Serial No. 101,371. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. BIGELOW, a citizen of the United States, residing at Worcester, in the county of Worcester and State'of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Upholstery-Spring and Means for Supporting the Same, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved means for combining upholstery springs to form springsupportssuch, for example, as employed for seats, couches, or similar purposes.

The especial object of this invention is to provide astrong, simple, and durable construction which can be readily and quickly put together without the use of special tools.

To accomplish this purpose, this invention consists of a novel form of upholstery-spring, a novel supporting piece or strip, and of the combinations of parts, as hereinafter described, and more particularly pointed out in the claims at the end of this specification.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is aperspective view of a portion of a frame constructed according to my invention. Fig.2 is an enlarged perspective view illustrating an upholstery-spring and a portion of a supporting strip or wire, and Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating a modfied form of support.

In upholstering chair-seats or other articles of furniture difficulty is encountered in providing means for securing the upholstery-springs in place. In constructions of this class it has heretofore been proposed to use supporting strips or wires extending across the frame which is to be upholstered; but in all such constructions with which I am familiar it has been necessary to bind the upholstery-springs in place or else thread the coils of the upholsterysprings onto their supportsthat is to say, in upholstery-work of this class special tools and appliances have heretofore ordinarily been required for securing the upholstery-springs in place and after the construction is once assembled it cannot thereafter readily be taken apart.

The especial object of my present invention is to provide a construction of this class which can be readily assembled or put together without the use of special tools-that is to say, the special object of my present invention is to provide a knockdown upholstery construction in which the parts may be packed in comparatively small compass for shipping and which can be thereafterset up without the use of special tools. To accomplish this object, I employa form of upholstery-spring which may be of the usual tapering spiral form, but in which the attaching-coil is provided with reentrant or bent-in sides, so that the attachingcoil is of substantially a figure 8 form. The supporting strip or wire has a socket for receiving the attaching-coil of the spring, said parts being proportioned so that the attachingcoil may be readily pushed into its place, and the expansion of the attaching-coil will lock or hold the same in fixed position.

Referring to the accompanying drawings for a detailed description of the construction embodying my invention, A designates a frame which is equipped or provided with springs supported according to my invention. The frame A may be any of the ordinary wooden framessuch, for example, as employed for chair-seats or similar purposes.

Extending across the frame A are the supporting strips or wires B. As shown most clearly in Fig. 2, the supporting strips or wires B are provided with inclined sections 10 near their ends and with downwardly-extending fastening spurs or points 11, which may be driven into the frame A. Other means may be employed for securing the fasteningwires in the frame A. At required points along their lengths the supporting-wires B are provided with sockets for receiving the attaching-coils of the upholstery-springs. In the construction illustrated in Fig. 2 the wires B are provided with flattened loops or turns 12.

The upholstery-springs C may be of the ordinary tapered conical form, the bottom or at: taching-coil 13 of each of said springs being provided with bent-in or reentrant sides, so that the attaching-coil of each spring will have substantially the form of a figure 8.

By means of this construction to secure the springs in place on the supporting-wires B it is simply necessary to push the ends of the supporting-coils 13 through the sockets 12, as shown, so that the expansion of the securingcoils will hold the springs in proper place.

' In Fig. 3 I have illustrated a modified form of construction in which one side of the socket for receiving the attaching-coil of a spring is formed by a bend or offset 14, while the other side of the attaching-socket is formed by a sheet-metal plate 15, which is slotted and set onto the offset or bend 14.

I am aware that numerous changes may be made in practicing my invention by those who are skilled in the art without departing from the scope thereof as expressed in the claims. I do not wish, therefore, to be limited to the constructions I have herein shown and described; but

What I do claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. In a construction of the class described, the combination of an upholstery-spring having a bottom coil which is located in a substantially horizontal plane when the spring occupies its normal position, and which has recntrant sides, and a supporting-piece having a socket for receiving said attaching-coil.

2. In a construction of the class described, the combination of upholstery-springs, each having an attaching-coil which lies in a substantially horizontal plane when the spring occupies its normal position and which has reentrant sides, a frame, and supporting-strips extending across the frame and having sockets for receiving the attaching-coils.

3. In a construction of the class described, the combination of upholstery-springs of tapered or conical form, the bottom coil of each of said upholstery-springs lying in a substantially horizontal plane when the spring occupies its normal position, and which has reentrant sides, a frame, and supporting-strips extending across the frame, and having sockets for receiving the attaching-coils of said springs.

4:. The combination of a frame, supportingwires extending across the frame, each wire having an ofiset or bend, with a piece of slotted metal fitted thereon to form a socket, and upholstery-springs, the bottom coil of each spring having bent-in sides which engage one of the aforesaid sockets.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE E. BIGELOW.

Witnesses:

LoUIs W. SOUTI-IGATE, PHILIP W. SOUTHGATE. 

